Palantir's plan for the NHS: "Buy our way in"

After being blocked from expanding its existing relationship, the data-mining company has a new plan: acquisitions, acquisitions, acquisitions.

American data analytics firm Palantir Technologies was working on a covert strategy to strengthen its ties to the NHS, according to emails and a strategy paper seen by Bloomberg.

The business wanted to buy up smaller competitors that already had a connection with the health service. That would potentially allow Palantir - the secretive, CIA-funded data-mining company set up by Paypal billionaire Peter Thiel - to work with one of the world's largest repositories of health data, without drawing public attention.

Palantir's regional leader Louis Mosley revealed the approach in an email titled 'Buying our way in...!' in September 2021.

It discussed "hoovering up" small firms that serve the NHS to "take a lot of ground and take down a lot of political resistance."

Mosley listed the qualities of suitable takeover targets in the UK, including sales of software services to the NHS; reputable leadership; and annual revenue between £5 million and £50 million.

The email said that founders will be offered a "quite generous buyout plan (say 10x, especially if entire equity)".

Palantir would pay founders for their stock ownership if they migrated all of their services to Foundry, the company's main data handling platform designed to compile data from many sources.

Mosley claimed that Palantir could perhaps be the targets' only legitimate departure option.

Palantir has won over £37 million in contracts with the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care since 2020, according to a Bloomberg report that cited public spending tracker AdviceCloud.

Palantir seeking new way to grow NHS tie-ups

The NHS contracted Palantir in 2020 to assist with the response to Covid-19. However, the relationship faced legal challenges and the Government eventually backed down from expanding it. Since then, the firm has been looking for new ways to grow its relationship with the National Health Service.

Founded in 2003 with support from the CIA, Palantir helps organisations analysing large volumes of data from governments and other sources to gain valuable insights.

However, civil liberties organisations - in the UK and elsewhere - are worried about Palantir's track record of supplying its tools to government agencies.

Palantir is presently seeking a contract with the NHS for a total of £360 million, which is currently being put up for bid.

While Palantir has not been successful in its supplier acquisition plans yet, documents seen by Bloomberg show how the firm seeks to strengthen its relationship with the NHS via both possible acquisitions and strategic recruitment from within the NHS.

Palantir spokesman Ben Mascall told Bloomberg that "Palantir exists to help the most important institutions solve their biggest challenges, and there are none more important in the UK than the NHS.

"Palantir has already enabled the NHS to improve millions of people's lives. We want to do more of this and we make no apology for that."

He stressed that intelligence and defence organisations around the world trust Palantir's software to protect sensitive data.

NHS England spokesperson James Kell said future contracts would be awarded via a process that is open and transparent, with strict criteria such as ensuring that data is kept safe and inside the NHS.

There are 86 different vendors present for pre-market interaction activities.